Sub 2:00 Half Marathon thread (Read 2388 times)

Z - nice running and congrats on a new record for weekly mileage. I'm sure all those miles are going to pay off big time come race day. I think you have sub 2 hours in the bag, I'm just curious how much you beat it by.

Jan26.2 – good thing that you are taking it easy when you don’t have a race nearby. It is great that you are still getting some mileage. it would be interesting to see what I do after I finish my first HM

Zelanie – great job in getting 10. You are running almost 50 miles for the week! that’s great. Good call in running 14 milers at the race course.

Doctorjen – your tempo pace (8.20) is quick! It is cool that you finished 20 miles in 3:11. I ran few three hour long runs but yet to cross 17 miles.

Npaden – great 10.6 miles at 8.45. it is impressive that your HR never got over 85%It is cool that your wife met you with the water few minutes before your long run was about to be done

EdithRevisited – I wish I remembered negative split. I had horrible positive splitIt is cool that you enjoyed your trail race and finished strong. Great job in getting a 12 miler

Me – ran 40s miles for the weekI decided to run hard (@ 85% max HR – 168 bpm) for HM distance on HM course and finished it in 2:05:15.First half of the course is easy as it has just one hill and it is on the road. The entire second half of the course is on trails including 4 hills. Since I ran around same HR, I knew that I was going to have positive splits. But I was disappointed by amount of increase in the splits. My splits were: 8:10, 8:14, 8:15, 8:30, 8:47, 9:08, 9:30, 10:45, 9:11, 9:58, 10:49, 11:24, 11:20

Hector - That should be valuable experience for race day. If you go out too fast, it will cost you in spades at the end of the race. Instead of going out at 85% of your max HR right at the start, run slower and build to that. If you start out at 9:00 miles you can probably keep them all the way to the end and even possibly negative split. Starting out at 8:10 pace you are definetly going to get slower.

Hector - That should be valuable experience for race day. If you go out too fast, it will cost you in spades at the end of the race. Instead of going out at 85% of your max HR right at the start, run slower and build to that. If you start out at 9:00 miles you can probably keep them all the way to the end and even possibly negative split. Starting out at 8:10 pace you are definetly going to get slower.

When is your race? Pretty soon isn't it?

Yeah. Race is soon. It is on March 30th. I definitely would not start out at 8:10. I for sure need to start slower and need to pick up the pace that I can maintain throughout.

During my last hard run, I was able to run 7.4 miles at 8.05 min/mile on treadmill with 3% slope. I also ran more than half dozen long runs of HM or longer distance. And I am having hard time accepting the fact that it would be very hard to go for 8.30 min/mile during the race.

Jan - Too bad about the hamstring/piriformis issues, but it sounds like you're doing better now. Did anything in particular give you an itch to try out zero drop shoes? Good luck with the RLRF plan!

npaden - Man, you really keep piling on the mileage (which I suppose makes sense training for a marathon), but pushing the streak out to two months and racking up that many miles in the short month of February? Impressive.

Edith - "Chilly Cheeks," huh? A bit of truth in advertising with that one? Sounds like you had a good time!

docjen - The thought of one twenty miler seems daunting to me right now. Here you are knocking out a second one. Nicely done!

Zelanie - Well done on that 14 miler! I'm with npaden: judging by what you've posted here I'd say you're primed to hit that sub-2 goal.

hector - Sounds like you had a really good run on your HM course. I'll echo npaden's advice about pacing (which you acknowledged). My first half I started out too fast (although given the heat I should have adjusted my goal pace down significantly) and I crashed by mile 10 and ended up walking much bigger chunks than I wanted. Hitting that 7.4 mile run at 8:05 is a good sign that you've done the work building up stamina. If you can hold back just a bit in the early miles, I tend to think you can improve on that 2:05 significantly.

Having finished my HM plan last Sunday I took several days off and in that time tried to decide what path to take next (I got easy 5 milers in on Friday and Saturdya). For now, I'm aiming for a 10k at the end of May. I plan to run a full marathon in the fall, but I figured that in the mean time building up some speed by training for a 10k would be both a change from what I've been doing and will prove helpful when I eventually start working on a marathon plan. I shelled out for a 12-week 10k intermediate plan from Hansons Coaching Services and dutifully plugged that into RA so we'll see how that goes.

Oh, and I got new shoes. I'd put about 600 miles on my trust New Balance M845s since last summer so it was high time. I stopped in to my Friendly, Local Running Store and (after being "diagnosed" as a slight overpronator) walked out with a shiny new pair of Saucony Guide 6s. I've only put 10 miles on them, but they feel great so far.

pcaharrier - I'm very curious to see how you do with the 12 week 10K plan. My next goal after my marathon is to break 45 minutes on the 10K this year and I'm thinking the marathon goal seems easier than the sub 45 minute 10K goal right now.

With your time on your HM I think you are a little bit faster than me already so I'm hoping you rock a great number on your 10K to show me that it can be done. Right now I can run 7:15 pace for a couple miles, but thinking that I will be able to hold that for another 4.2 miles is very daunting. Of course I haven't tapered for anything in a while so it will be interesting to see what would happen if I actually tapered a little too.

EDIT - I went to look at your training plan and I guess it isn't showing as public? I can see your scheduled workouts in your Training Log Summary page, but when I click on Training Plan I get nothing. Do they give you specific paces to be running your intervals and tempo runs at? Do they go based on a target goal for your 10K?

Nathan - I think you'll be surprised what you can do when you've tapered and your legs are fresh. Those last 4 miles at that pace might not seem so hard.

pcaharrier - I guess all the hype about zero drop and minimalist shoes made me want to try them, and also all the "testimonials" about people were running without the aches and pains they had experienced before switching shoes. I should have known better - every time in the last 17 years I've tried to run in less stable shoes, it doesn't turn out well for me. I'd love to hear what you think of the Hanson's plan after you get into it. I agree with a lot of their philosophies. 10k training will probably be a nice change for you for awhile.

hector - Whoa! 8:05mm at 3% incline is not easy. If you can reign it in for the first couple of miles, I think you're going to have an incredibly strong finish.

Zelanie - Great job on the 14 miler! It's a good idea to get an idea of what the course looks like, and now that you know what it's like, you should be able to kick some serious butt in the race.

docjen - Way to go on 20 miler #2! I'm glad you were able to get off the TM and put in some miles outside. Your mileage has been amazing! I hope your weather clears up so you can get the rest of your longer runs in outside.

Edith - Nice Chilly Cheeks race! I'm glad you felt better after the first couple of miles and could finish strong. Way to go on getting in the 12 miler in spite of not feeling quite up to par.

kenyan - I think a 10k would be your best bet for dialing in your pace in the half, since they're closer in distance.

Me - Got outside for an 8 miler this weekend, and it felt good to be off the belt (TM belt that is). Ended the week around 25 miles, but the break felt good and my piriformis/hamstring issue is much better. I re-read the RLRF book, and decided it's just not for me. I love to run too much, and I know when the weather gets warm again I'll want to me out there more often than 3x a week. I'm going to hang with 4 days a week until I'm completely pain free, then probably bump it back up to 5.

I'm in for a try, goal race is the Oregon Wine Country HM on September 1st, which will be my first HM. My actual goal is sub-1:55 - I originally was targeting sub-2:00, but then I pushed a long training run out to 13.1 miles, saw that I was closing in on 13.1 as I was closing in on 2 hours, kicked real hard for the last 2 miles or so, and hit 13.1 at 1:59:58 (yay!), so I've adjusted down a couple minutes to help keep pushing myself.

pcaharrier - I'm very curious to see how you do with the 12 week 10K plan. My next goal after my marathon is to break 45 minutes on the 10K this year and I'm thinking the marathon goal seems easier than the sub 45 minute 10K goal right now.

With your time on your HM I think you are a little bit faster than me already so I'm hoping you rock a great number on your 10K to show me that it can be done. Right now I can run 7:15 pace for a couple miles, but thinking that I will be able to hold that for another 4.2 miles is very daunting. Of course I haven't tapered for anything in a while so it will be interesting to see what would happen if I actually tapered a little too.

EDIT - I went to look at your training plan and I guess it isn't showing as public? I can see your scheduled workouts in your Training Log Summary page, but when I click on Training Plan I get nothing. Do they give you specific paces to be running your intervals and tempo runs at? Do they go based on a target goal for your 10K?

Thanks, Nathan

Yeah, I had it set to private by default for some reason. It should be viewable now if you want to take a look.

The plan includes a pace reference chart that gives you easy pace, tempo pace, 10k goal pace, 5k pace, and mile pace. I didn't think I was quite ready for a 45 minute 10k (but we'll see as I get into the training) so I did a little math and figured out the paces for a 47 minute 10k and those are what will show up my plan on RA. The original plan calls for six days of running (Sunday long run, Wednesday rest or cross train), but I do the long runs on Saturday and cut out one of the easy days so I'm running Tuesday through Saturday.

2014 goals: 2,000 | 52.5 | Marathon PR | Skip the injuries again

2015 goals: 2,000 | TBD | No major injuries

hectortrojan

posted: 3/5/2013 at 5:00 PM

Pcaharrier – thanks for your input. I will try to pick up the pace which I can hold on to during entire race. It’s a great idea to work towards speed before you start preparing for your marathon. You finished your HM in 8.05. Do you have target pace for marathon or is it too early to think about it?

Jan26.2 – loved your comment that you love to run too much

Me – I am suffering from Metatarsalgia - bottom of forefoot pain I didn’t run today. Not sure if I am going to run tomorrow as well. I hope this pain goes away quickly. I don’t want to miss running specially knowing my race is in three weeks.

hector - For the fall marathon I'm working toward, my goals at this point are #1: finish and #2: maybe break 4 hours. Once I start training for that race specifically, I might think about tweaking my time goal, but probably not by much.

2014 goals: 2,000 | 52.5 | Marathon PR | Skip the injuries again

2015 goals: 2,000 | TBD | No major injuries

gosling

posted: 3/5/2013 at 10:48 PM

Hi all,

I've been reading this thread with great interest for the past week and finally decided to join in.

My story: I've been running for just over 5 months, with no running background whatsoever. In that time I went from running my first 5k (with pretty much no training) in 33:06 to running a 5k at the end of Jan in 25:50. I'll be running the R&R Nashville HM on April 27. My goal is to come as close to 2:00 as I can, although at this point I'm unsure whether that will mean 2:05 or 1:59:59.

I've been training using the HH Novice 2 plan, but reached the peak mileage week (plus some) last week. I plan to hold that approx mileage until the race. Would love to run more, but with 2 kids not in school, very little help, and no treadmill, 25ish mpw is about all I can muster.

I would love if anyone could weigh in on what you think would be most beneficial to me, training-wise, from here on out.

Last week I ran 5/4/4/12. The 5 milers I always do at race pace (9:09) or faster. This may mean a progressive run starting at that pace or tempo, it depends on the week and how my legs are feeling after my long run. Long runs I usually average 10:15ish pace (the course is quite hilly so my splits are all over the place), at which I can easily hold a conversation.

My original plan was to repeat this week until the end, but I've been wondering if I might benefit more from fewer 12 milers and more medium long runs at race pace.

I'm also trying to find a local race to help me gauge if 2:00 is realistic. My Jan 5k (25:50) was poorly organized and I spent the first mile passing about 100 walkers and strollers. Lots slow of dodging and weaving. My last 10k (1:00) was in November which was an eternity ago as far as training.

Me- Another good run tonight. 9 total with 5 x 1200m. Pfitz said 2 sec/lap slower than 10K pace, so that ended up being about 8:45 for me. Not bad at all. I felt good enough that I ran the last two after my intervals more "moderate" than "easy". So the 7 I ran after I had to reset my watch after my warmup (hit "lap" twice, oops) ended up being at a 9:03 pace overall.

Harrier- Good luck on the 10K plan! And congrats on the new shoes! My daughter has Guide 5s and they work well for her. Except that she doesn't run that often.

Jan- Glad you were able to get an outside run in!

aus- Welcome from another Oregonian! Looks like you're a tad faster than I am in your training paces, though! You might have more in you than you think come race day.

gosling- Welcome! It sounds like you've made huge improvement in a very short time! I'm a newbie as far as training goes, but I suspect that you've got more speed than endurance still just because you haven't been running for that long. So that might mean that a 5K might not be an accurate predictor of what you can maintain over the distance anyway. It does sound like having some moderate length and pace runs might help you. Even just add some easy miles before and after your 5 miles @ race pace might help simulate pushing through on slightly more fatigued muscles. In any case, it sounds like you're doing great!

A meh run tonight. Tried to tackle the ginormous hill in town that has about 2 miles of climbing (if the name 'City View Drive' is any indication). Didn't quite make it to the top and needed a few walk breaks. Not much in the way of sidewalks up there and still a bit of snow, so poor footing. I found it hard to get in a good rhythm and just felt mentally checked out. Supposed to be 7, but ended up with 6.5 of 'running' miles. I guess I'll take a 'meh' run if it's only every couple of weeks or so. It's good for the ego.

Zelanie - you're a badass! Or a ninja. Take your pick.

Welcome gosling - it's so exciting to be starting out and watching to see how high the improvent curve goes when you are running consistently. It can definitely be a struggle to train for a race like a half when life gets in the way. With being a relatively new runner, I think your major focus right now is just to build an endurance base in the most effective way possible. Not a lot of fancy speedwork - just getting in as much miles as your schedule allows. That's great that you've worked up to a 12 mile long run. Long runs are an important part of preparing for long races (that's my philosophical musing for the evening)....you learn how to fuel yourself effectively and it can be a great confidence builder to know you can be out there for that long.

I'd say you're looking pretty good right now. Like I said, you don't really need to be doing a lot of speedwork at this point, but tempo runs and pace runs can be a great way of learning a set pace and building endurance. 'Tempo' is a term used pretty loosely, but basically it's a period of elevated effort at a faster than normal pace during a run - usually between 10k and half-mary pace. I think you're right on target with wanting to find a local race in the near future, but for different reasons. At this point, you're still building endurance, so a 5 or 10k won't be the best predictor of a half marathon time, but your performance at that distance could help you a lot in setting paces for your workouts. Here's a particularly helpful resource for that: http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/

I'd also encourage you to not get too caught up in overall time for your first one and just work on running smart and enjoying the experience. The longer races can be tough when you're first starting out and have a limited endurance base...while I dont think you'll have any trouble 'running' 13.1 by late april, you might have a hard time 'racing' 13.1 if that makes sense - you should be able to complete the distance just fine, but may find that you underperformed, based on shorter race performances. With a few more months of solid training and race experiences under your belt though, that won't be too much of a problem.

If I were going with the schedule you posted, I might do something like this:

Tuesday: 5

Thursday: 4 with a 20 minute tempo

Friday: 4

Sunday: 12

On the rest days, I'd see if you can also get some strength exercises in: pushups, situps, planks, etc. That's probably a bit easier to multitask with at home...and can be a hell of a workout with kids crawling on your back! I'd also eventually go a little longer on the Tuesday run, to 6 or 7 maybe. Of course that's just one possible way of doing this and it all depends on your schedule and feasibility

Ran my local 14K race today. Started out not too bad, low 50's and wind around 15 mph, but by the end of the race the wind was up to 30 mph gusting to almost 40 mph. Long story short, I met my goal by 1 second this time. Final time 1:09:59 for a 8:03 avg pace.

The first 4.5 miles went really well, had a tailwind for about 2 of those miles and was rocking along at an average pace of 7:50 per mile feeling really good and then turned smack into the wind. The nice little 15 mph tailwind had increased to 30 mph and winds were gusting up to 38 mph. We were on a dirt/gravel road and the wind was picking up big clouds of dirt and sandblasting us. It was brutal. My bluetooth headset actually blew off from around my neck twice and I had to just carry it in my hand. I couldn't look ahead, just shuffled along looking about 3 feet in front of me. My splits balloned up to 8:46 on mile 6 and 8:55 on mile 7. Finally we turned so the wind was a cross wind and was able to start running again. Mile 8 picked back up to a 7:49 and then I turned with the wind for the last half mile or so and the last split was at a 7:16 pace.

Here's my splits.

Splits (GPS Interval)

Type

Distance

Duration

Total Duration

Pace

Avg HR

Max HR

Notes

1

Manual

1 mi

7:49.68

7:49.68

7:50

160

169

2

Manual

1 mi

7:46.35

15:36.03

7:47

165

172

3

Manual

1 mi

7:50.22

23:26.25

7:51

168

172

4

Manual

1 mi

7:51.53

31:17.78

7:52

170

174

5

Manual

1 mi

8:01.96

39:19.74

8:02

173

178

6

Manual

1 mi

8:45.99

48:05.73

8:46

177

182

7

Manual

1 mi

8:55.43

57:01.16

8:56

174

177

8

Manual

1 mi

7:48.38

1:04:49.54

7:49

175

180

9

Manual

0.71 mi

5:09.46

1:09:59

7:16

179

184

One neat thing that I got to experience on this race was having a front row seat to the overall women's race unfoldking in front of me. They were side by side until they turned out of the wind just before mile 7 and one put on a spurt and got about 20 yards ahead of the other and never looked back.

I don't think I wore myself out too much, I think I will be able to stick with my plan next week, but I should find out for sure tomorrow with 8 easy miles on the agenda.